School refusal has a broad range of contributing factors that include the individual, family, school, and community. It can occur in young people of any age, and sometimes without any accompanying mental health disorder. In this 1-hour workshop, Professors Lau and Ougrin will talk about the science of underlying causes, explore evidence-based interventions for school refusal in pupils of all ages, and discuss how teachers should best support these children and young people.

Speaker profiles:

Professor Jennifer Lau - In July 2021, Professor Lau was appointed co-Director of the Youth Resilience Unit at Queen Mary University of London. Previously she has studied how genetic and environmental factors interacted to influence adolescent anxiety and mood problems, emotion processing in youth anxiety and depression, and cognitive precursors of fear and avoidance in adolescents with chronic pain. She has also created a programme of research developing early cognitive science-based interventions for mood and anxiety problems, working with schools and other community groups such as arts organisations and social action groups worldwide.

Professor Dennis Ougrin - In September 2021, Professor Ougrin was appointed co-Director of the Youth Resilience Unit at Queen Mary University of London. He is a consultant child and adolescent psychiatrist who leads a programme of global mental health studies aimed at developing community mental health services in Ukraine and other Low- and Middle-Income Countries. He is also the author of Therapeutic Assessment, a novel model of assessment for young people with self-harm, and has developed and tested an Intensive Community Care Service model for young people with severe psychiatric disorders, called Supported Discharge Service. Professor Ougrin’s research has informed treatment choices in young people with emotional disorders.

Host institution:

The Youth Resilience Unit (YRU) is funded by Barts Charity and commenced its work on 1st March 2021. The overall aim of the YRRU is to study how young people (flexible age boundaries) use resources in the community to overcome mental distress. It will work closely with, but be separate from, the Unit for Social and Community Psychiatry.

The YRU will launch with a study of a large cohort of young people with mental distress, fully funded by Barts Charity. Current plans are that the YRU will be based at the Newham Centre for Mental Health (London, UK). It will seek collaboration both with the mental health services and organisations for young people in the community outside health services.

You can follow the activities of the YRU on Twitter (@QMULResilience). For more information about the YRU and contact details, please visit our website.